


Truth or Dare: An Epilogue

by rainbowbean



Series: Criminal Minds Trope Bingo 2020 [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23171197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowbean/pseuds/rainbowbean
Summary: Not changing the events of the season 14 finale episode but adding an extra element and diverging from subsequent canon. A fix-it fic because this canon does not spark joy so *yeets it out the window*
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Criminal Minds Trope Bingo 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648582
Kudos: 4





	Truth or Dare: An Epilogue

Taking a last look at your make up in the mirror you decided to take the stairs up to the balcony overlooking the banquet hall where the reception was in full swing. Your nerves were making themselves known, a flock of butterflies were occupying your abdomen and you were more aware of your breathing than usual. Cresting the stairs you found a pillar beside the balcony and looked around it cautiously, not wanting to draw the attention of any of the guests below. The hall was beautifully decorated and would not have been out of place in an Italian town, probably the intention the happy couple had in mind when picking the venue. It was a small wedding, family and close friends and that had made you nervous when your boyfriend of a little over a year asked you to join him there. You had both deliberately kept his colleagues in the dark about your relationship, preferring to let it unfold without the gaze of other profilers potentially colouring it. You had worked with his boss, Emily Prentiss, in London and knew that she would make the connection upon seeing you again after all these years.

A smile crept across your painted lips thinking about the effort it had taken to keep Emily at bay over the past year. You had felt guilty not telling her you were in DC at first but rationalized it to her when you had run into each other at a coffee shop one Sunday by telling her that you were still under contract to Interpol and very limited in who you could interact with. This had been true until four weeks ago when a final court ruling has concluded your ongoing case and set you free of the five-year contract that had started with Emily recruiting you. You hadn't even known that Emily was no longer your boss until emerging from nearly four years of undercover work and had learnt from Spencer that she was now unit chief of the BAU. You were thrilled for her, knowing that she had never been truly happy in London, even if it had been a necessary move for her. Unit Chief obviously suited Emily as you saw her cross the floor with a laugh lighting her face, making her look a decade younger than she was. You followed her movement, content to get this opportunity to observe unobtrusively, as she approached your partner who was leaning against the bar below the balcony. Spencer was obviously intense conversation with a blond woman who you assumed must be JJ. Your heart sank a little, though you knew he had intended to speak to her tonight about the confession during the case in LA.

The butterflies abruptly died and your heart rose several inches into your throat as you watched them, Emily giving them a message and JJ putting her hand to Spencer's chest to stop him following her. Your breath caught momentarily, jealousy and a fierce protective instinct flaring in your chest in the exact spot where she had touched him. You knew about the confession. Spencer had been distant when he got back and it had taken a lot for him to open up and tell you. You didn't like to recall the previous evening, it was the first time you had felt like you might really lose him. You had weathered a lot together in the last year, you both had baggage and his job was intense and often triggering for him. But you had established ground rules together to deal with it, and they had never failed you. The conversation had been tense, there were a lot of tears from both of you as he tried to work out what his best friend had meant, why she was being weird with him now and how he felt about her and the confession. In the end, he concluded that he would need to ask JJ directly if she meant it as it had come across. He needed to know, not because he felt the same for her but because this was his most important relationship, more so than his with you or even with his mother. You were fine with this, you had known what JJ meant to Spencer all along and it never caused you any consternation. Until now.

As you watched Spencer step back you could see him watching JJ carefully. A kind smile that didn't quite reach his eyes tugged at your heartstrings and you knew he had not gotten a simple answer. Was there a simple answer to be gotten in this situation. JJ nodded and turned to walk back to the group who were gathered around to watch the cake being cut but your eyes remained on Spencer. You could feel his heart breaking as if your own was cracking apart in your chest and felt a tear threatening to break free and spoil your make up. Looking up to the ceiling you took a few steadying breaths and took your phone from the clutch you had been holding very tightly without realising. You typed a quick text and sent it, your eyes returning to watch Spencer as you awaited a reply.

Down in the hall, Spencer was standing at the back of the group when his phone buzzed quietly in the pocket inside his jacket. Slipping it out he saw a text from his girlfriend on the lock screen that read 'SW balcony. Ok to join? x'. Looking over his left shoulder he searched for a moment before spotting her standing almost concealed behind a pillar on the upper level, smiling gently at him. His breath hitched as he took her in. A full head shorter than he was he could tell from her posture that she had worn heels to make up the difference tonight. Her glossy brown curls were pinned up with an ornate clip on one side and hung loosely around her face and shoulders. A Kelly green chiffon dress hugged her to the waist before falling to just below her knees and she held a small bag in which she was stowing her own phone. He smiled broadly and gave a quick jerk of the head to let her know it was ok to join the party. The fear that had been sitting on his chest in the run-up to confronting JJ and its accompanying confusion and frustration at her lack of clarification lifted a little as he watched his girlfriend disappear down the stairs. Knowing that she would soon be by his side, that he would no longer be alone in this situation that was causing him so much anguish and pain was like a soothing balm on a wound. He felt the familiar awe he had for her well up in his chest, one he had tried and failed to put into words for her on numerous occasions. She made things better by being beside him and he was deeply grateful that she hadn't left him last night when words had failed him again in his attempt to communicate the impossibly complex situation with JJ. He hadn't felt romantic feelings for Jennifer in years, their relationship was familial and he loved her but in the way a brother loved a sister. Her confession had sent all those old feelings coursing through him and the ensuing battle between his old affections and the years of closeness had spilt out into his current relationship. The thought of leaving his partner had never even crossed his mind and when he had looked into her green eyes, bright with tears and saw the fear and sorrow there it had scared him to think that she had thought he might leave. Though only a year old his relationship with her was the most stable and grounding thing in his life. He had asked her to move in after only nine months together and felt immeasurable joy in sharing his apartment with her, seeing her sleeping face every morning he was home and coming back from a case to find her asleep on the couch, having tried to wait up for him. She made him happy in ways he never believed he could be again. Not even a profession of love from his closest friend could change his mind about her. This was the woman he wanted to spend his life with, who made him want a gathering like this of their own, who very recently had spurred him to buy and conceal a ring in his bureau. He did not know when he would ask, but he would. And as she entered through the grand doors into the hall and smiled at him he knew exactly what her answer would be when that day came.


End file.
